Knights of the Old Republic
by Fury of Heaven
Summary: A fanfiction based completely on my playthrough through the game. Unless necessary, the only completely original part is the character himself. The rest is as canonical to the game as possible.
1. Prelude

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS

KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. Darth Malak, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada upon an unsuspecting galaxy.

Crushing all resistance, Malak's war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Master

In the skies above the outer rim world of Taris, a Jedi battle fleet engages the forces of Darth Malak in a desperate effort to halt the Sith's galactic domination...


	2. Endar Spire

Sith fighters swarmed the ship from all sides, protected only by the turrets lining it. The ship under attack was the Endar Spire, a small Republic ship in orbit around a small planet. The Endar Spire reacted swiftly, but the initial attack had arrived too fast for the ship's defences to pose a decent defence. The Sith overpowered the ship with ease, and before long their firepower had penetrated the shields, causing the ship to rock violently with explosions. 

Zephkiel, a young Republic recruit, awoke to the explosions, completely oblivious to what was taking place. He rose from his bed, the fatigue still leaving him clueless to the attack. He could not so much as reach for his gear before another soldier entered the cabin.

"We've been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet!" the man exclaimed. "The Endar Spire is under attack! Hurry up - we don't have much time!"

The man's words did not sink in fully, and Zephkiel asked the first words that came to mind, "who are you?"

"I'm Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet." the man explained. "I'm your bunk mate here on the Endar Spire. We work opposite shifts; I guess that's why you haven't seen me before."

Zephkiel shrugged, a small gesture to show that he really did not plan to hear the man's life story over such a simple question; a name was all he was after.

"Now hurry up," Trask interrupted, "we have to find Bastila! We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!"

Zephkiel had now realised what was going on, but the explosions had died down a little, and so, he felt a false sense of security, seeing no need to rush off just yet. "Who's Bastila?" he asked casually, slightly amused at Trask's urgency and anxious stance.

"Bastila's the commanding officer on the Endar Spire." Also lulled into a false sense of security, Trask relaxed a little. "Well, not an officer, really. But she's the one in charge of this mission."

"And?" Zephkiel asked, slightly annoyed at having to risk his own life for a mere title.

"One of our primary duties is to guarantee her survival in the event of enemy attack! You swore an oath just like everyone else on this mission." Zephkiel had completely forgotten about the oath he had sworn, though, this did not really surprise him due to his problems with memory recollection. "Now it's time to make good on that oath!" Trask again interrupted.

Zephkiel's mind had been elsewhere the day of the oath, and he smiled to himself as he realised he had dug himself into another hole with his thoughtless agreeing and playing along.

Still not interested in wasting his time looking for this commanding officer, he pointed out, "she has her escorts, does she not? Let them handle it. We can't really offer much more than them."

Trask shook his head. "I've heard all about your reputation: elite combat training, tops in your class. It's no wonder you were hand picked for this mission." Zephkiel cursed under his breath, but Trask did not skip a beat. "Word is the officers haven't seen a recruit with your kind of potential in twenty years." Zephkiel knew Trask was still not content with his verbal onslaught, and so, Zephkiel casually waited for the man to continue. "But all that potential doesn't mean a thing if you can't deliver when it counts!"

Zephkiel snapped to attention at the obvious attack on his character. He was not so keen on defending his ego, but he now saw this mission for what it truly was; a challenge. A sly grin crossed his face and he replied enthusiastically "okay, let's go help Bastila!"

"So hurry up and grab your gear." Trask was not impressed with Zephkiel's cryptic nature. "You need to suit up so we can get out of here."

"Okay." Zephkiel wasted no time pulling out his equipment from his footlocker. He threw on his clothes, hardly fitting to be called armour, but equally heavy due to the backpack. Zephkiel slipped a few medpacs into the bag, as well as some stimulants. Sliding his short sword onto his belt, Zephkiel grabbed his blaster rifle and turned to Trask.

"Okay, let's move out." Zephkiel headed for the door, rolling his eyes as Trask saw fit to add even more dialogue to the mix. "We should stick together; you'll have more success with a party than on your own."

Zephkiel, irritated by the constant disruptions, threw a glance at the man, choosing not to verbalise his distaste. He walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it would not budge. Hanging his head, he already knew Trask was just waiting to open his mouth again.

"Because of the attack this room is in lockdown, but don't worry - I've got the override codes." Feeling somewhat proud of his importance, Trask added "you'll have to use me to unlock the door."

Zephkiel sighed, unwilling to accept the man's necessity. 'Okay," he replied, stepping away from the door.

Trask walked over to the dorr hastily and input the codes. "Now that the door's open you better take the lead again."

Zephkiel shook his head. "Just great," he muttered to himself. "I have a rookie soldier afraid of combat clinging off me."

Running forward, Zephkiel was again interrupted, only this time it was not Trask. "This is Carth Onasi - the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out against their firepower! All hands to the bridge."

Zephkiel turned to run, but Trask stopped him, feeling a need to dribble out another set of useless and irrelevant facts. "That was Carth contacting us on our portable communicators. He's one of the Republic's best pilots! He's seen more combat than the rest of the Endar Spire's crew put together."

Zephkiel threw a glance at Trask to say that the difference lay only in what was down on paper, but Trask did not take the hint. "If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to held defend Bastila!"

"He didn't even mention Bas-" Zephkiel protested but Trask cut him off.

"There's a map of the Endar Spire and a copy of Carth's message in your electronic journal, just in case we get separated."

Zephkiel sighed, knowing he would not be able to put up with Trask much longer. "Let's move out," he said bluntly, an indication for Trask to shut his mouth.

Zephkiel headed to the next door, only to find it was again locked. He threw an unimpressed glance at Trask, who wasted no time. "That door's locked. I don't have the codes to open it, but I can use my security skills to slice into the access panel and open the door."

"So stop talking about it and do it," Zephkiel growled, low enough for Trask to not hear him. Trask ran over to the door and spent a few minutes fiddling with it before the door finally opened. On the other side was a Republic soldier, shot down by the two enemy soldiers before the others could assist.

"These Sith must be the advanced boarding party," Trask pointed out. Throwing his arm into the air, he yelled "for the Republic!" before running into battle.

"Lay off the video games..." Zephkiel muttered, shaking his head as Trask foolishly confronted the Sith.

Knowing Trask would not stand much of a chance against trained Sith soldiers, Zephkiel rolled sideways through the door, blaster rifle at the ready. Zephkiel fired a few shots at the Sith, effectively drawing their fire. The range was far enough that Zephkiel was more than safe, but Trask ran forward and drew his sword, choosing to take on one of the soldiers via melee.

"At least he stands half a chance this way," Zephkiel muttered; moments later Trask overpowered his opponent, with only seconds before Zephkiel's target succumbed to the blaster fire.

Running forward, Zephkiel was thrown to the floor as an explosion destroyed the door beside him. Shaking his head, he rose to his feet and headed over to the droid caught in the explosion, if only to salvage some parts that he could later use. Finding nothing, he turned and resumed his pace through the hall.

The second he opened the door, Zephkiel felt himself twisting to the side, watching a blaster bolt as it flew past his face. Levelling his gun, Zephkiel fired at one of the two soldiers before him, whilst Trask closed in to lower the distance to a range he could contribute. Dropping the enemies, Zephkiel searched the room, finding himself a combat suit and a long sword. Smiling to himself, Zephkiel dropped the backpack and donned the armour. He threw his rifle to Trask and took to his dual blades, deciding he would have a little fun. He had a little experience in dual wielding, but he was hardly an efficient fighter just yet.

Twirling his blades, Zephkiel put them to the floor and went through the backpack, taking out the supplies and fitting them into the pockets on his suit. Picking up his swords again, he twirled them impressively before continuing on through the ship.

In the next hallway, he came across several Republic soldiers fighting the Sith, but they were cut and shot down with little resistance. Two soldiers managed to hold their own, even as a Sith closed the gap between them and attacked with a sword. Zephkiel almost thought they stood a chance, until a Sith threw a grenade into the fray, taking out all three combatants.

Zephkiel shook his head at the nature of the Sith and raised his blades, charging into the battle. Five Sith stood before him, but he cut the majority of them down with sickening ease as Trask picked off the others from a distance.

"Impressive," Trask noted.

"The Sith are trained for long-range combat. They're hopeless up close," Zephkiel pointed out as he searched the bodies for weapons, supplies and credits. Seeing a droid further along, he headed over to it, only to have it blow up before he reached it. Rummaging through the pile, he found a few parts he could use, before he headed back to the only working door in the room.

He could hear lightsabers clashing, and as he opened the door to the fight he saw two Jedi fighting. "It's a Dark Jedi!" Trask exclaimed. Zephkiel ran in to help, but Trask held him back. "This fight is too much for us - we better stay back. All we'd do is get in the way."

Zephkiel pushed the man off him and ran in anyway, waiting for an opportunity to join the battle. He watched as the fight raged on, neither side showing an opening. Eventually, though, the Dark Jedi overpowered the other Jedi and prepared to finish the job, only to find Zephkiel had slashed him across the back when he had lowered his defences. The Jedi stood to thank Zephkiel, only to be thrown to the ground by a grenade. Zephkiel managed to hold his ground, and turned to find another two Sith soldiers.

Zephkiel cut the two soldiers down before they could even line up their shots, before turning to the Jedi. Checking for a pulse, Zephkiel shook his head. "She's dead," he explained to Trask.

"That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila," Trask pointed out. "Damn, we could have used her help!"

Zephkiel rummaged the bodies again, tilting his head at a vibration cell on the Jedi's body. Pocketing it, he turned and continued onwards, finally reaching the bridge. Zephkiel wasted no time joining the battle, but an explosion rendered the majority of the soldiers, both Republic and Sith, dead. Cutting down the two remaining soldiers, Zephkiel turned to Trask.

"Bastila's not here on the bridge - they must have retreated to the escape pods! We better head that way too."

"Flee?" Zephkiel questioned, somewhat unfamiliar with the notion.

"The Sith want Bastila alive, but once she's off the ship there's nothing stopping them from blasting the Endar Spire into galactic dust!"

Zephkiel shook his head and turned, reluctantly heading towards the escape pods. As the pair continued on their way, Trask ran ahead. He ran over to one of the doors before them and said "there's something behind here." Trask opened the door and, to his surprise, there stood another enemy. "Damn - another Dark Jedi!" Trask exclaimed. No longer overcome with anxiety, his fear replaced with adrenaline and notions of grandeur, Trask ran forward, sword drawn. "I'll try and hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!"

"Don't be stupid, Trask! Get back here!" Zephkiel moved forward to assist, but there was an explosion and the door malfunctioned, slamming shut. "You stupid idiot," Zephkiel muttered. "We could've taken him together."

Zephkiel shook his head and walked away, continuing to the escape pods. "This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator," he heard. "I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support systems."

"And?" Zephkiel asked casually, not particularly interested in what Carth had to say.

"Bastila's escape pod is away - you're the last surviving crew member on the Endar Spire!"

Zephkiel shook his head at how little Trask had managed to hold off his opponent, but he was interrupted by Carth. "I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods!"

"Whatever," Zephkiel dismissed, breaking into a slight jog.

Coming around a corner in the hall, Zephkiel caught sight of another Sith Trooper. He ran up to the soldier, swords drawn, and proceeded to dodge all the incoming strikes before cutting down his opponent.

Running into the next room, Zephkiel dropped another two troopers before Carth contacted him again. "Be careful!" he warned. "There's a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door! You need to find some way to thin their numbers."

"Suggestions?" Zephkiel asked.

"You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts."

"Anything else?" Zephkiel asked, not too keen on taking on an entire squad.

"Or, you could use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire's security systems against the Sith."

"Sounds like a plan," Zephkiel nodded, running over to the terminal. Logging onto the computer, he accessed the camera in the starboard transport module. A large number of Sith Troopers stood there, armed and waiting to take out any Republic Soldiers that were unfortunate enough to stumble upon them. Slicing into the computer, Zephkiel overloaded the power conduit, effectively frying the entire squad within seconds. Waiting for the electricity to fizzle out, Zephkiel then entered the room to collect the spoils.

Catching sight of a prototype vibroblade, Zephkiel discarded his short sword, equipped the new weapon and continued on, before finally reaching the escape capsules.

"You made it just in time!" Carth greeted Zephkiel, the urgency in his voice evident. "There's only one escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!"

Zephkiel, still ignoring the threat of the Sith bombardment, intercepted Carth before he reached the escape pod. "How do I know I can trust you?" he asked casually.

"I'm a soldier with the Republic, like you. We're the last two crew members left on the Endar Spire," Carth explained, letting his guard down. Zephkiel shook his head at how easily the man was distracted, but Carth quickly regained his senses. "Bastila's escape pod's already gone, so there's no reason for us to stick around here and get shot by the Sith. Now come on – there'll be time for questions later!" Carth then ran for the escape pod and jumped in, beckoning for Zephkiel to follow.

Zephkiel paused before he entered the escape pod. He half considered staying behind and fighting the Sith himself, but realising the fragile state of the Endar Spire, he figured he would not even get to see another Sith before the ship was destroyed.

Sheathing his swords, Zephkiel hopped into the escape pod and sat across from Carth, looking out the small window.

The escape pod jettisoned out of the escape pod and headed planetward; Zephkiel watched as the Endar Spire blew up seconds later. The escape pod headed directly for Taris and barely missed several buildings as it crashed into the ground; Zephkiel was knocked out by the impact.


	3. Republic Fugitives

_Zephkiel found himself before a Jedi, lightsaber in hand. The woman struck at him twice, but he batted away the strikes with ease, although he felt something unsettling in the battle._

Zephkiel was drenched in sweat as he opened his eyes, realising it was just a dream. He sat up, a little too fast, and felt the blood rush to his head.

"Good to see you up, instead of thrashing around in your sleep," Carth greeted him. "You must have been having one hell of a nightmare. I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up."

Zephkiel said nothing, the pain in his head almost overwhelming.

"I'm Carth, one of the Republic soldiers from the Endar Spire," he continued, but Zephkiel paid him no attention. "I was with you on the escape pod, do you remember?"

Zephkiel looked up at him, knowing he had to respond. "Carth, the one on the communicator. I remember," he said bluntly.

Changing the subject, Carth continued to talk. "Well, you've been slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple of days now, so I imagine you're pretty confused about things." Zephkiel shook his head, indicating he did not really care, but Carth took it as a reinforcement of his statement. "Try not to worry. We're safe... at least for the moment."

"Well this doesn't look like an escape pod," Zephkiel muttered. "Where are we?"

"We're in an abandoned apartment on the planet of Taris. You were banged up pretty bad when our escape pod crashed, but luckily I wasn't seriously hurt."

Zephkiel conceded the man's point and beckoned for him to continue. "I was able to drag you away from our crash site in all the confusion, and I stumbled onto this abandoned apartment. By the time the Sith arrived on the scene we were long gone."

Zephkiel, his head still in pain, lay back down on his bed. "So are we just going to wait here for the Republic to rescue us?" he asked casually, not overly interested in the answer.

Carth shook his head solemnly. "Taris is under Sith control. Their fleet is orbiting the planet, they've declared martial law and they've imposed a planet-wide quarantine. But I've been in worse spots."

"Martial law..." Zephkiel muttered to himself. "That's about the only law I'm more than willing to follow," he smiled.

Ignoring the remark, Carth continued. "I saw on your service records that you understand a remarkable number of alien languages. That's pretty rare in a raw recruit, but it should come in handy while we're stranded on a foreign."

Zephkiel waved his hand, dismissing the compliment. "What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"There's no way the Republic will be able to get anyone through the Sith blockade to help us. If we're going to find Bastila and get off this planet, we can't rely on anybody but ourselves."

"That suits me perfectly fine," Zephkiel agreed, casually tossing his scavenged Vibration Cell in the air to entertain himself. "Why is it so important to find Bastila?" he asked.

"That smack to the head did more damage than I thought." Zephkiel threw a glance at Carth indicating his disinterest in the man's appraisal, and so Carth answered his question. "Bastila's a Jedi. She was with the strike team that killed Darth Revan, Malak's Sith master."

"And?"

"Bastila is the key to the whole Republic war effort. The Sith must have found out she was on the Endar Spire and set an ambush for us in this system."

"Get the point," Zephkiel muttered.

"I believe Bastila was on one of the escape pods that crashed down here on Taris. For the sake of the Republic war effort, we have to try and find her."

Zephkiel sighed, not wanting to commit himself to any heroic deeds. "If Bastila's a Jedi, she can probably look after herself," he said casually, dismissing Carth.

"Basitla's going to need our help," Carth argued. "Many of Darth Malak's followers have mastered the dark side of the Force, and the Sith have already killed more than their share of Jedi in this war."

"And what makes you think we stand a chance?" Zephkiel asked, still throwing the Vibration Cell in the air.

"I doubt anyone's specifically looking for us anymore: we're not that important."

"Thanks..." Zephkiel muttered, rolling his eyes.

"But if we're careful we can move about the planet without attracting notice; a luxury Bastila won't have."

"Why not?"

"She's going to have half the Sith fleet looking for her. They know how vital she is to the war effort."

Zephkiel looked at the man, indicating for him to continue. "Bastila is no ordinary Jedi. She has a rare gift the Jedi call Battle Meditation. Bastila's power can influence entire armies."

Zephkiel put the Vibration Cell down and moved his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. "If Bastila's so great," he goaded, "how come the Sith managed to blow up the Endar Spire?"

"Through the Force Bastila can inspire her allies with confidence and make her enemies lose their will to fight. And often, that's all it takes to tip the balance in a battle. But there are limits to what she can do. From what I understand of her ability, it requires great concentration and focus to maintain her Battle Meditation. The attack on the Endar Spire happened so fast she probably never even had a chance to use her power. I'm guessing she barely got out alive, and now she's trapped here just as we are."

"Trapped?" Zephkiel asked. "What makes you think that?"

"The whole planet is under quarantine. No ships can land or take-off. So if Bastila's going to escape Taris, she's going to need our help. And we'll probably need hers."

"You're implying that two soldiers and a Jedi can bypass a Sith quarantine... The odds are so low that I'm half-tempted tag along. Any idea where we should start looking for Bastila?"

"While you were out I did some scouting around. There are reports of a couple escape pods crashing down into the Undercity. That's probably a good place to start."

"Suits me."

"But the Undercity is a dangerous place. We don't want to go in there unprepared. It won't do Bastila any good if we go and get ourselves killed."

"Nor us," Zephkiel added. "Come on. I want to scout this planet out a bit." Zephkiel moved to his feet, strapping his swords to his belt.

"Good idea," Carth agreed. "We can use this abandoned apartment as a base, and we can probably get some equipment and supplies here in the Upper City. Just remember to keep a low profile."

Zephkiel's stance indicated that he wasn't too bothered by the risk, so Carth continued. "I've heard some grim stories about the Dark Jedi interrogation techniques. They say the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories and destroy your very identity!"

"Ouch," Zephkiel conceded, but still not overly worried.

"But I figure if we don't do anything stupid we should be okay," Carth justified, more to himself than Zephkiel. "I mean, after all, they're... they're looking for Bastila, not a couple of grunts like us." Shaking his head, Carth altered his tone. "Alright soldier, let's move out."

Zephkiel caught sight of a small locker at the end of the room, pushed past Carth. "What's in this?" he asked. Inside he found some computer spikes and some medpacs, all of which he slipped into his pockets.

Spying a workbench, Zephkiel headed over to it. He had a small idea of how to build weapons, and he eyed the Vibration Cell. Grabbing it, he placed his Prototype Vibroblade on the table and opened the handle. "I thought as much," Zephkiel muttered, slipping the Cell into a small slot in the handle. Closing the handle, Zephkiel tapped the sword against the bench, feeling vibrations surge through the blade. "Nice," he muttered.

Walking out of the apartment complex, Zephkiel ran into a conflict between a Sith patrol, one soldier and two Battle droids, and a pair of alien residents.

"Okay you alien scum," the Sith spat, "everybody get up against the wall! This is a raid!"

"There was a patrol here just yesterday, and they found nothing!" an alien protested. "Why do you Sith keep bothering us?" He was met with a series of blaster bolts and he dropped to the floor, dead.

"That's how we Sith deal with smart-mouth aliens! Now the rest of you get up against the wall before I lose my temper again!"

"Anger problems?" Zephkiel asked the man.

"Hey, what's this?" the Sith exclaimed turning around. "Humans hiding out with aliens?"

"I wasn't hiding," Zephkiel retorted.

"They're Republic fugitives! Attack!"

"Yes sir," Zephkiel smiled, lowering into his attack stance.

_Zephkiel targeted the droid to his left and Carth aimed for the droid on the right, saving the soldier for last. The Sith cowardly aimed for the defenceless alien, but Zephkiel charged the droids and cut them down in two swift strikes, before moving to the soldier. He dodged Zephkiel's first strike, but was not fast enough to dodge the next attack, and he was dead before he hit the ground._

"Poor Ixgil. He should never have talked back to that Sith. Thankfully you were here to step in and help us, human," the alien winced, holding his ribs. He had been hit by a glancing shot, but he seemed to be okay. "This isn't the first time the Sith have come in here to cause trouble for us, but hopefully it will be the last."

"Glad I could help," Zephkiel nodded.

"Don't worry about the bodies. I will move them so it looks like they were killed elsewhere. That should throw the Sith off the track."

Zephkiel smiled. "Good move," he said.

"With any luck, they won't be bothering us again for a while."

Zephkiel shrugged and headed over to the soldier, emptying his pockets. Pocketing a few grenades and stimulants, Zephkiel grabbed the man's Blaster Rifle and threw it to Carth, who strapped it to his back.

Standing back up, the alien spoke to him again. "Thank you once again, human. And as I said earlier, don't worry about the bodies. I will take care of them for you."

Zephkiel nodded again and walked off. Realising this place was devoid of authorities, he walked up to a locked room, a grin lining his face. "Carth, can you pick locks?" he asked.

"I can," he confirmed. "Why?"

Zephkiel nodded towards the lock. "What? No! I'm not breaking into anyone's apartment."

"It could be the room of more Republic Soldiers," Zephkiel pointed out, though more keen on checking out the room.

"I... I guess," Carth conceded, picking the lock. Inside was a single woman, Carth apologised, but Zephkiel walked up to her. On his way he spied a small bag, which he sifted through inconspicuously, finding more spikes, some credits and another medpac.

"Who are you? What are you doing I here?" the woman exclaimd. "You can't just come barging into someone's home!"

"I'm sorry, I was just investigating the area," Zephkiel replied innocently.

"That's no excuse. You can't just go around barging into people's apartments because you're curious!" Her face softened a little before she continued. "But at least you're more polite than that pig, Holdan," she sighed.

"Holdan? Who's that?" Zephkiel asked, slightly interested.

"Just one of Daviks' men who can't keep his hands to himself. But all he got for his trouble was a nasty scar from my vibroblade! Too bad I'm the one still paying the price..." she trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Zephkiel asked, his interest rising further.

"I... I don't want to talk about it," the woman stammered, her lip trembling. "I'm in enough trouble already. Besides, I don't know if I can trust you."

Zephkiel's mouth twitched slightly, but he suppressed the smile. "You can trust me," he tried to persuade the woman. "Maybe I can help."

Dia, relieved at the thought of someone trying to help, conceded. "Well I suppose you seem like an alright sort. When I cut Holdan it made him back off, but it also embarrassed him in front of his friends." The woman's tone turned bitter. "Holdan's a spiteful little Hutt-slug. He went and put out a bounty on my head for what I did!" She sighed, her voice going soft again. "That's why I'm hiding out here..."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Zephkiel asked, itching for another battle.

"I doubt it," the woman shook her head. "Holdan is one of Davik's men. When you work for the local crime lord the authorities tend to turn a blind eye. I'm afraid this is between me and Holdan now."

Realising bloodshed would only reflect badly on the woman, Zephkiel changed his approach. "Maybe I could speak to Holdan for you."

" You could try, I guess. He usually hangs out at the cantina in the Lower City. It probably won't do any good. Holdan's used to getting his own way."

"That's too bad..." Zephkiel trailed off, though more for show rather than him actually giving up.

"That's one of the fringe benefits of being a goon for Davik. Working for the local crime lord lets you get away with things. Still, I appreciate the offer."

"I'll be going now," Zephkiel said bluntly.

"Goodbye, and good luck," the woman said hopefully. "I hope you can talk some sense into Holdan."

Zephkiel nodded and turned, walking away. "That was... quite impressive," Carth noted, rejoining his comrade. "You've done this sort of stuff before, haven't you?"

"I kept myself alive manipulating people and convincing them to join my cause. I know how they work."

"Useful..." Carth muttered. "Dishonourable, but useful..."

"That's not true, Zephkiel dismissed. "All's well that ends well. Just because I said want she wanted to hear doesn't mean she won't achieve the safety she desires."

"True," Carth conceded.

Leaving the room, Zephkiel continued down the hall. "Well, I don't see too many of your kind around here." He was intercepted by a Twi'lek, clearly running a small business. "Most of the residents here in this run down old apartment are illegal aliens. My name is Larrim, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you, Larrim. Zephkiel Olandos," he nodded.

"I know it's really none of my business, but you look like someone who might need to purchase one of those new energy shields. They're the latest thing, you know. Very high tech."

"What's so great about them?" Zephkiel asked, not particularly interested.

"When you use one it surrounds you with a radiant aura-particle mesh that absorbs blaster bolts. Pretty handy in a fight. The shield even protects against lightsabers, or so I hear."

"Impressive," Zephkiel nodded, though he much preferred relying on himself for his strength and survival.

"The shields aren't perfect, of course. They can only absorb so much energy damage before they burn out, and ion blasters will take your basic duelling shield down pretty quick."

"And I can tell you from experience that they aren't any good at all against a simple vibroblade," Carth jumped in. "That's why the Republic has been training soldiers in hand-to-hand and melee combat."

"I've heard enough about these shields," Zephkiel dismissed, deciding he did not need them.

"Oh, okay," Larrim conceded. "Well then, you might be interested in knowing I have one for sale."

"No thanks," Zephkiel declined.

"It could mean the difference between life and death," Larrim pressed.

"Then I'll see you in Hell," Zephkiel nodded, a mischievous smile lining his face. Carth shook his head at the man's arrogance, but he had no desire to invest in the energy shield either.

The two moved on, coming across another locked room. Zephkiel nodded to Carth, who moved to pick the lock. The door opened and inside stood a Twi'lek.

"Don't hurt me!" she pleaded. "Just... just take what you want. I won't try to stop you."

Zephkiel shrugged and grabbed some droid parts, a medpac and some credits. "Sorry for the disruption," he apologised, walking back out of the room.

Another locked room revealed the same outcome, parts, a medpac and credits, with an Ithorian requesting he be spared. "Please, don't hurt me," he begged. "I have nothing of value in here. Look for yourself and see."

Zephkiel shrugged again and continued through the hall. Another locked room, and more of the same treasures. Zephkiel decided to give up at this point, and headed for the Apartment exit.

Zephkiel strolled through the streets, but stopped suddenly. He turned to face Carth; he could not put his finger on it, but he felt something was bothering the man. Knowing he needed the man to focus, he decided to talk to him about it to see if he could get him to open up.

"Carth?" Zephkiel asked.

"Yes, what's on your mind?"

"I'd like to know some more about you, Carth," Zephkiel nodded, not entirely interested but needing the man to stay focussed.

"Me?" Carth asked, surprised. "Well, I've been a star-pilot for the Republic for years. I've seen more than my share of wars... I fought in the Mandalorian Wars before all this started."

"Go on," Zephkiel nodded.

"But with all that, I've never experienced anything like the slaughter these Sith animals can unleash. Not even the Mandalorians were that senseless."

"Senseless?" Zephkiel asked.

"My home world was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission, and there wasn't a damn thing our Republic forces could do to stop them!"

"You're talking like it's your fault," Zephkiel pointed out, "like you failed somehow."

"It shouldn't be my fault," Carth tried to justify it to himself. "I did everything I could... I followed my orders and did my duty. That shouldn't mean I failed them! I didn't!"

"Them? The people of your home world?"

"Yes. No... no, that's not what I mean. I mean... I'm sorry. I'm not making much sense, am I?"

Zephkiel shrugged, indicating the man had said nothing out of place. "You probably mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past very much. At all, actually. I'm more used to taking action... keeping my mind focussed on the business at hand. So let's just do that. If you have more questions, ask them later."

Zephkiel nodded, glad to finally have Carth focussing on what was at hand.


End file.
